Designing a tool for astronauts.

Began and led a project to replace the 1990s era tools aboard the International Space Station with modern iPad and iPhone apps. Worked closely with astronauts to understand their needs and design all aspects of the product.

Deployed it in a series of space-on-earth missions, both out in the desert and underwater. The astronauts loved it, calling it a “mission enhancing tool -- essential.”

Work has been presented at SXSW and IXDA SF. Will hopefully be running live on the Space Station in the near future.

Making space software cool again.

The designs emphasized rich visualizations, attempting to make NASA mission software as cool as people imagine it to be.

This work led directly to the funding of several major projects for the team.

Palm

Perfecting a tablet.

One of seven Core OS team members that designed Palm’s tablet operating system, webOS 3.0. As the primary researcher, did exhaustive work on fundamental interactions including cards, notifications, the virtual keyboard, and touch targets.

From The Verge review: "the whole thing flows more naturally than probably any other mobile OS on the market. Palm nailed this the first time, and it still feels wonderful to use."

Palm

Researching the role of tech in our lives.

Spent months doing in-field studies to understand how touch products were transforming homes and companies alike. Led a specific effort around touch in high-end design, including companies like Dreamworks and Pixar.

Synthesized this information, shared it with the broader team, and used it to form a roadmap of products for the company.

Pacific Northwest Labs

From threat analysis to protein synthesis.

User experience designer on over a dozen government projects. Worked on highly complex topics including video search, threat anticipation, protein synthesis, and sentiment analysis.

Researched and designed novel interactions and visualizations to effectively convey these topics to analysts working inside the government.

University of Pittsburgh

A tablet for dentists, before the iPad.

Researched dentists and dental systems for 5 months through contextual inquires, interviews, and software comparisons. Brainstormed and sketched dozens of prototype dental systems, then validated them with dentists. Iterated and user tested the best ideas, resulting in a touchscreen system for operatory use.